Recklessness
by shadeseer
Summary: Going overboard can cost someone more than you can ever imagine. Tavros is hospitalized and only Vriska is to blame.
1. Chapter 1

I sat patiently in the waiting area. Having not heard anything about his condition or what could be done, I decided to walk out of the silent room. The brisk cold hit me the minute I stepped through the automatic doors from the emergency room. I was aware that my jacket was on the coat rack just inside the door, but felt that this cool air would be better than to return into that horrid room.

_Why had I been so stupid?_

_Why did I have to take it this far?_

These questions kept repeating through my head, and no matter what I did or what I told myself, I could not get rid of these questions, for I had no answers to them. I always took it to a point that I could get a little carried away, but never enough to actually hurt someone. Standing in the cool air, I was able to calm down slightly, but not enough to bring myself to go back in to face what I had done. I began to shiver, but still did not return to the vacant seat in the hospital waiting room.

By this time, I had found a bench near the doorway and had sat to remember what had happened, but it all blurred together in a way that made me not want to look back on it. About 20 minutes later, the door behind me slid open quickly; however I did not turn to see who it was. The minute the girl began to speak, I knew exactly who it was. I could not believe that she could get this angry over something like this, but I guess it was imminent considering my actions.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Do you even realize what you've done?!" she screamed. "Do you realize that he could have _died_ because of this?!"

_Died…_

Before this it had never occurred to me how serious this actually was. I could not bring myself to look at the girl, for no matter what I said; I would never be forgiven for this. She stormed away to her car, which was parked in the parking garage directly across the street. She sped out of the garage, almost hitting a trashcan, but missed. I finally concluded that it was useless to try to run away from this, and that it must be faced. I walked back into the waiting room and sat in that vacant seat in the corner. I began to doze off, but the sound of the large swinging doors immediately woke me up.

The doctor explained that he had administered some heavy pain medication, and therefore he would most likely not be awake tonight. I still walked to his assigned room, for I knew that if I turned back now, I would never forgive myself. I entered the room to see him hooked up to an IV and sound asleep. Other than the IV in his arm, he looked completely normal. However, I had already known what was wrong when I set foot in the room.

"I am sorry to tell you this, but your friend will never walk again. He has been paralyzed from the waist down." The doctor said in a cold, even tone. He then walked away, leaving me in the empty hallway. I was shocked by this.

_I paralyzed him. This is my fault._

There was a chair in the corner of the room; one of those chairs that may not be comfy, but will do if you are staying with someone for the night. I chose to stay with him. As I lay down, I began to cry; and the words that had been yelled and told to me tonight ran through my head once again.

_What the hell were you thinking?!_

_Do you even realize what you've done?!_

_Do you realize that he could have died because of this?!_

_He has been paralyzed from the waist down._

I am careful not to let people see me cry, mainly for the fact that I fear they will think I am weak for it. That night I cried myself to sleep, knowing that I had stolen so much in one night of my recklessness. He probably would never forgive me for this. He will yell at me to get out of the room, or even say that he can't even stand the sight of me anymore. He will hate me, and I will deserve all of it, because it's my fault and I can never take it back.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke with a raging headache in a small white room. As I looked around the room, I noticed her sleeping uncomfortably in an armchair in the corner of the room. After inspecting the remainder of my surroundings, I noticed IVs sticking out of my arms. This made it painfully clear that I was currently in the hospital. I tried to remember how I had gotten here, however my headache prevented me from being able to think about it for a long period of time.

As I looked back at the armchair, I noticed that, even in sleep, she looked extremely distraught. Her hair was in a messy bun that looked like it was put up in a matter of seconds. Her clothes were extremely wrinkled, and it seemed as if she had been crying for a short period of time. I knew her well enough by now that she didn't like to tell others how she felt about certain subjects, so bringing up crying most likely wouldn't be a good idea.

_Why is she here? Why would she stay with me?_

I turned away and instead looked at the nightstand beside my bed. On it was a tall vase with a single _ rose with a small card attached.

"_I am so sorry…" _was all the card read. There was no signature on it meaning that I wouldn't know who sent the rose to me. I loved the rose so much; not only because it was my favorite color, but because someone thought to get a rose for me. They didn't need to, but it was a nice gesture. I would have to ask her who gave it to me when she awoke.

The same thoughts raced through my mind even as I thought about the single rose sitting beside my bed. A nurse was walking by when she peered in and noticed that I was awake. She first asked me if I was in any pain. I said that I had a minor headache and then realized that there was a slight pain near my waist. She asked if that was all, to which I replied yes. She said for what I have been through I am pretty lucky that I hadn't been in more pain.

_What had I been through? Why am I here?_

She then walked out of the room to get some pain medication for me. I figured that the pain in my waist was probably just caused by me laying down for a long period of time, so I decided I should probably get up and walk around a little bit. I tried to move my right leg off of the bed, but it stayed completely stationary. I attempted the same thing with my opposite leg, but got the same response. I then realized that I actually couldn't feel anything below my waist. I tried moving each part of my leg separately: ankle, toes, knee, nothing. There was absolutely no movement in either leg. Just then, the nurse returned with a glass of water and the medication.

After taking it, the nurse took the empty cup and left the room. My headache went away in a matter of minutes and I was finally able to think clearly. I choose to take this time to think back to what I remembered last.

_We were fighting, which is nothing unusual. We always do, but get over it just as quick as it's started. I remember her screaming about something, but I am not sure exactly what. We decided, in order to clear our heads a little bit, to drive up to our favorite spot; the spot where we first met. It was a cliff that overlooked the beach. After a while of sitting in silence with our legs dangling over the edge, like we always do, she seemed to relax a little bit. I moved over next to her and eventually got her to smile. As we were getting up to go back to the car, she gave me a small shove. I had not fully gotten my balance yet and slipped off the edge of the fifteen foot cliff. The last thing I remember is a scream and a falling sensation._

Just as I began the process of piecing everything together, I began to feel very drowsy. Realizing that the pain medication was kicking in fully, I tried to speak loud enough in order to wake her up to no avail. Before I knew it I was asleep again, and no longer thought of the things that had plagued my mind while I was conscious.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning I awoke drearily with minor back pain. At first I questioned why I would be in pain, and then remembered that I had just spent the night in a hospital recliner. I got up to stretch myself out then walked over to the side of his bed. He looked somewhat peaceful in this state. It appeared he had moved a bit, but that could be anything from the nurses coming in to check on him or him turning in his sleep. I walked around the room for a little bit, but couldn't stand being here alone so I decided to go down to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. There wasn't much to choose from when I arrived, so I ended up grabbing an apple juice and a bagel with cream cheese. I sat at a table in the corner of the room. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone walking up to me.

The man was tall and had long tousled hair. He had bags under his eyes, hinting that he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite place where I would remember him from. He sat down across from me with a small breakfast for himself: a small glass of apple juice and a stack of pancakes with syrup and butter.

"How's he been?" he asked.

"How has who been? Do I even know you?" I replied to the strange man.

"I'm Gamzee. I think we met last year when Tavros had invited us both over to introduce us to each other."

With that explanation, you did vaguely remember that day, but not as much as you would have hoped.

"Oh, okay. Well, he seems to be doing okay and hasn't woken up yet. If you want to go see him then he's in room _. No guarantees on him being awake though."

"Alright thanks, but I think I would rather have company when I head up, so I think I'll wait until you finish here so I'm not alone."

The next few minutes were filled with an awkward silence while we were finishing up our breakfast. Once we were both done, we silently walked up the stairs to where his room was. Gamzee walked over and kneeled by his bed as I returned to the recliner in the corner. I was watching as the look on Gamzee's face as he looked at his best friend. It then occurred to me that Gamzee lived out of state, at least 100 miles from here, most likely more. The bags under his eyes are most likely from him driving here just to see his friend.

"Hey, who brought this flower? It doesn't say."

"Huh? Oh, um, I don't know. It was here when I arrived."

"Oh. Well do you think whoever dropped it off would mind if I went down to the gift shop and bought him a purple one? "

"Nah, I don't really think they would mind. Just don't forget to let him know who like that person did."

"Alright well I'll be right back," he said as he left through the room in order to buy the rose. I wasn't going to tell him that I was the one who had given him the rose, nor anyone else. The only person who would know exactly what the rose meant would be Tavros. Blue has always been my signature color with almost anything. His favorite was orange, and I was going to get him an orange one, but I figured it wouldn't mean as much. As I looked closer at the rose, it seemed like there wasn't enough water in the vase, so I returned to the cafeteria and bought a water bottle. When I came back Gamzee still hadn't returned, so I took the water bottle over to the vase and refilled it. I wouldn't want it dying before Tavros could see it. I kept the water bottle next to it so that I could easily take it and refill it later. I grabbed the remote for the TV in the room and walked back to the recliner. I turned it on and the station that it was on was the news. The story that came up was one about a teenage couple who had visited a cliff above a beach and one had fallen. The boy was hospitalized and the girl was the prime suspect, though foul play had not been confirmed yet. As I heard what the news station had to say about Tavros and I, the more I wanted to go tell them straight out what happened. Suddenly from behind me, I heard a slightly strained voice call my name.

"Vriska?"


	4. Chapter 4

When I awoke again, my headache was almost entirely gone and I was able to sit myself upright. I immediately noticed that she was sitting sideways in the recliner so her head was resting on one arm and her feet dangling over the other. Before I had the chance to call out to her, my attention turned to the TV set. There was a story running about a young couple and a tragedy about a boy falling from a cliff at a sea shore. I then heard that the girl who had been seen with him that night would be considered the prime suspect if foul play was decidedly the cause.

From what I had heard in these few statements was that the girl sitting in my room right now was the one who caused this. The more I listened, the more they made it seem as if she had plotted this for such a long time that it was almost fool proof. However, I couldn't believe that she had actually done this; at least, not intentionally. I looked back at her again once the story coverage was over. The look on her face told me all I needed to know.

Vriska and I had been dating for almost a year when I had this accident. By this stage, if I didn't know what it looked like when my girlfriend was upset, then I would have to be pretty pathetic. The look on her face told me that she was angered by what the newscasters were saying. I could tell she wanted to go and set things straight herself, but we both knew that she couldn't do that. As I looked to my right, I noticed something new on the small table: a single blue rose. To anyone else, this could have been anyone, but to me it meant the world.

Vriska was always good at hiding how she felt, but this one flower told me that she cared. This one flower showed me that she felt remorse for any pain caused, yet she would never admit it to anyone out loud. By seeing this rose, I gained the confidence to finally speak to her.

"Vriska?" I said in a small voice, just audible to her. She turned around pretty quickly considering how she was sitting. "Hey Tav. What's up?" she said somewhat sweetly. "Why did you buy this rose for me?" I asked, even though I already knew. "Well I had to get you something didn't I?" she said in a somewhat muffled tone turning away so as to hide a slight blush. I smiled coyly at her and when she turned back around noticed immediately. That earned me a pretty hard punch on the arm, but it was worth it.

"Oh yeah um some dude, Gamzee I think his name was, is also here. He ran to the gift shop to get you a purple rose," she said.

"Really?! I haven't seen him since the last time you guys met! Is he going to be back soon?" I said a little too excitedly for her liking.

"Yeah, I guess…" was the dull reply I got back. The doctor then came in the room to check on me again. He asked if I was in pain or anything, which I wasn't. He asked if there was anything I needed. I thought about it for a few seconds and asked if I could maybe go outside for a few minutes. He complied and brought in a wheel chair. Vriska came back in to help the doctor put me in the wheelchair and then the doctor instructed us to where there was a small courtyard outside. Just as we were leaving, Gamzee came walking down the hallway and met us at the door.

We talked for a few minutes then had to go since a certain girl was obviously discontent with just sitting there. She raced us down the hallway because "if it isn't at least slightly extreme then where is the fun?" We almost hit two nurses with food trays and a candy striper with a large bear for another patient. We somehow were able to make it out of the hospital in one piece to the courtyard where there was a large oak tree. The two of us sat in silence under the tree; Vriska on the ground and I in my new wheelchair. She just kept looking up through the trees somewhere else as I still wondered what the true story was behind why I was now paralyzed from the waist down. As I looked around at the peaceful scene, I knew that now wasn't the time to be asking these questions and instead gazed up at the clouds and clear skies above.


End file.
